Strategy. Alive and real!

The topic of building strategy that is alive and real, that is not an indulgent document that is a result of an annual ritual is a topic that stays on the minds of many. Be they entrepreneurs, social leaders, corporate executives and anyone with a set of objectives to move forward with. More on that in just a bit.

First, introducing Kimberly.

How do you introduce someone who has been making a difference to a growing community in a rather quiet, matter-of-fact manner? In a world where the decibel levels of raw marketing are perpetually set to ‘maximum’ examples of people who let their work do the talking is becoming rarer, Kimberly Bain and her work stand out. So when the opportunity of working closely with Kimberly Bain came up, we at the India Chapter of the International Association of Facilitators, we were delighted. To put it mildly!

Kimberly is an expert facilitator and works with both small and large groups ( 5 to 500) to help them reach consensus and achieve a common purpose amongst other things. She has a vast portfolio of experience, facilitating community groups, professional, volunteers, academics, hospitals, medical professionals, government departments and stakeholder groups. Her style is inclusive and works on building consensus. Something that our fractured times so need. Her innovative approach to strategic planning, expert conflict resolution techniques combined with her varied facilitation toolkit get her to work with varied groups across the world.

My conversations with her have been diverse, as she gets to do a bit of exploration of India. Her thinking on strategy and her approach to conflict resolution perked my ear. Read on. Am sure you will learn a thing or two.

Me : What are the components of strategy making and where do you see organisations / leaders struggle with?Kimberly : Strategic planning is about focusing for success, this requires careful and insightful planning on how to develop the Strategy, who to involve, the processes to ensure best thinking is included and all options and opportunities are considered. Many thought leaders know that the Strategic Planning Process is almost more important that the resulting Plan itself. While most leaders understand this, they do not always have the background and information needed to design a planning process that meets their needs, the needs of the organization and the needs of the people who will be executing the Strategy. Utilizing the art and science of facilitation can provide the guidance needed to custom design a Strategic Plan that is based on collaboration to produce sustainable outcomes, therefore building the buy-in needed within the organization to move employees from thinking to action and from paper to implementation.

Me : How does facilitative style of leading people augment a business leader’s skillset? What must a leader do to bolster that?Kimberly : In order to develop and utilize an effective facilitative leadership style, leaders need to understand behavioural analysis, group decision-making processes, individual communications styles and conflict handling styles. In order to bolster individual facilitative leadership we need to learn how to make the job of those who we lead “easier”, by facilitating their work, their relationships and expand their ability to innovate.

Me : A degree of conflict is inherently needed for progress and growth. Now is this true, from your experience? How do leaders get to foster this?Kimberly : That depends how you define “conflict”. Creating an environment where individuals can voice and explore different opinions, alternative points of view and unconventional thinking does help groups and organizations grow and progress. But “conflict” often is a result of poor communication, negative assumptions of intent and lack of trust.

Me: Inclusion (or the lack of it) can break the best of strategy. In a world where young people across the world want to participate in the decision making process and want to have their voice heard, what is the next frontier of strategy making?Kimberly : Absolutely, engagement and inclusion are a central theme for effective strategic planning exercises. Not only is this necessary for social enterprises and community-based strategic planning, but it is just as important for profit-based organizations to include staff, shareholders, stakeholders, partners and customers in their Strategic Planning. This ensures all views are considered, all options are explored, and most importantly, champions and cheerleaders are created throughout the organization, making implementation smoother and more effective. When people feel like they have been involved in the decision, they will not only support it, but they will advocate for it!

Me : Could you share an experience in helping a team with making of a strategy that has stayed with you.Kimberly : I worked with a Government Agency in Canada. This was a new Agency that was created to help coordinate Cancer Control efforts across Canada. The Agency had no actual authority over health departments across the country, so they needed to develop a Strategy that would position them as the hosting agency convening crucial conversations to help coordinate effort and increase impact. Canada has 13 different provincial health departments and I assisted the Agency to design a Strategic Planning process that brought together each province, the various national and provincial cancer advocacy groups, agencies and thought-leading clinicians. The process took 9 months and was extremely successful. The 5 year resulting Strategic Plan was so effective that the Agency received a second 5 year mandate and is considered the main reason that cancer mortality rates have decreased across the country!